Television

Games

Michael Green and Bryan Fuller Exit American Gods

American Gods showrunners Bryan Fuller and Michael Green have departed the hit Starz series based on Neil Gaiman's bestselling book.

Starring Ricky Whittle as the awesomely named Shadow Moon, and a devilishly good Ian McShane, American Gods has been one of the most ambitious new TV shows of the year, and it's certainly the craziest. I won't spoil too much for those of you that haven't seen it, but a scene involving Bilquis (the Goddess of love) absorbing a lover in a way that will give you recurring nightmares, is just the tip of a wonderfully delirious iceberg.

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According to Variety, Fuller and Green had been "clashing with producer FremantleMedia over budget and creative direction" of the forthcoming second season. Fuller had been pushing for a budget increase that would have exceeded FreemantleMedia's $10 million per episode allowance. At the time of writing, no replacement showrunner has been named, but there has been speculation that Neil Gaiman could be tapped for the role. However, his commitments to Amazon's Good Omens will likely rule him out from a more hands-on position on American Gods.

Having departed his showrunner duties on Star Trek Discovery while the show was in production, American Gods marks the second series that Fuller has had to step away from in the last twelve months. Both Green and Fuller have no shortage of new shows to fill their time with, Michael Green is currently working on Netflix's adaptation of Raising Dion starring Michael B. Jordan, and Bryan Fuller is putting together a revamp of Steven Spielberg's Amazing Stories for Apple TV. Oh, and there could well be a Hannibal revival on the cards if Fuller's recent comments turn out to be true.

Deadline reports that more than half the scripts for the second season have been completed, but it remains unclear if the departure of Fuller and Green will delay the proposed summer 2018 launch date.